Best Wishes for Best Practices

Every once in awhile, a message gets through. I mean really through. To the core of your soul through.  That happened to me while working on this issue.

I had the pleasure of sitting in a room with some of the world’s giants during the Champions For Kids (CFK) Global Leadership Conference. You’ll find a snippet of the day in the Biz2Biz feature story this month. My takeaway was on the reality of America’s (non-existent) “Best Practices” for children.  It’s impossible to condense an entire day into 1,000 words, but I hope you will take note that there is a lot of work to be done here at many levels, and that you will not be alone if you take up the gauntlet. In fact, you will be in great company.

Adelaide Schaeffer is CEO of CFK. David Gergen called her a “luminous woman” and I have to agree. She said, “We’re living in a world of transactions, whether as non-profits, businesses, or people. We may think we are going to relate with people based on transactions. But we don’t. People do not become part of the bigger team because of the price point, the glitz, the glamor or the shelf space. There they make a transaction. At the end of the day they buy the product or they don’t. But it doesn’t change their lives.”

Well, doggone, she’s right. As business leaders we can even be dedicated to a best practices approach and still just be making a transaction. Even our 140 characters on Twitter or Facebook is posting a transaction.  As consumers, it’s all about “me.”

No, I don’t have an answer to conclude this letter. I only have more questions. But I can see that as long as we’re asking questions, we’re looking for answers.  Open your eyes to the possibilities.

Best Wishes for Best Practices in 2011!